Chicago Blackhawks

It was a very good night for the Blackhawks, and not just on their home ice.

First, the Blackhawks won again - and did so in the assertive kind of fashion that Chicago fans have come to expect. It was playoff-level hockey against the Los Angeles Kings, the defending Stanley Cup champs who are desperate to hold on to a playoff position. Unfortunately for the Kings, not only did they lose to Chicago, but across their division, the Flames beat the Stars 5-3 for a regulation win, widening the gap that the Kings need to make up.

Secondly, the Blackhawks looked confident in this win. The lines were clicking. T euvo Teräväinen, playing on the so-called 'fou...

In just a matter of a little more than 24hrs the Blackhawks went from being the number three seed in the West to number five seed in the western conference and are now in a wild card spot. The Minnesota Wild took their third spot with a win over the Los Angeles Kings yesterday and leap frogged the idol Hawks. The Hawks can return the favor tonight in Winnipeg with a win in regulation.

The Hawks find themselves now only four points ahead of these Winnipeg Jets in the wild card spots as well. The Hawks do have games in hand over both Minnesota and Winnipeg, but what should be a wakeup call to the Hawks is not the points or the standings and where they find themselves but their play as...

Corey Crawford stole a game for the Chicago Blackhawks that they had no business winning, making 43 stops in a 3-1 victory against the Carolina Hurricanes. Andrew Shaw scored twice and Patrick Sharp also added a goal as the Hawks moved to within two points of the Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues in the Central Division.

Carolina, well out of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference, looked every bit like the team in ‘rebuilding’ mode in the first...

The Hawks head out for a four game road trip. Their first stop will be in big D for a Saturday night showdown with the Stars. The Dallas Stars are all but out of the playoff hunt but are mathematically still in it. The points definitely mean more for the Blackhawks who have the St. Louis Blues and Nashville Predators in their sights.

The Hawks only trail the division leading Blues by four points and trail the Predators by two points with a game in hand so the Blackhawks have plenty of incentive to garner more points. The Hawks have been on a tare lately with a 8-1-1 record in the last ten games.

At Hawks practice today coach Quenneville said Corey Crawford will be back in the ...

The Blackhawks are 5-0-1 in March (8-1-1 in their past ten) and have outscored opponents 19-8 in the past six games.

Patrick Kane who?

Corey Crawford has gone .961 sv% in March. The top line of Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa, and Patrick Sharp is suddenly on fire. The power play is scoring, the penalty kill has been doing its thing.

The switch, as they say, has been flipped.

Chicago didn't steamroll the Islanders, but they played a very solid game against one of the best teams in the East. Jaroslav Halak and Nick Leddy were out for the Isles due to injuries. Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa scored two goals apiece.

The Hawks and the Sharks faced off in a matinee tilt with both teams coming in needing points in the competitive Western Conference but for different reasons. The Hawks wanted to gain points looking to possibly stay within striking distance of the division lead and keeping those in the rear view mirror way far behind in the mirror. The Sharks are outside the playoffs and needed the points more than the Hawks but perhaps they are the team with the internal turmoil in the organization with cross words between management and Joe Thornton being waged in the media.

The Hawks also continued on the Fathers trip and maybe they want to keep the dads for a while, because this game was exactly...

After a tight 2-1 victory over the Rangers on Thursday night, the Blackhawks will face off against San Jose in a matinee showing to cap off their annual road trip with their dads.

The San Jose Sharks are in a bad place right now, both in the standings and off the ice. While they’ve won their last two games, they’re still three points out of a playoff spot behind Winnipeg and Los Angeles, who holds the last wild card spot. Add on top of that a disagreement...

The Hawks and Rangers squared off in an Original Six match up that had all the feelings of a playoff game. In a scoreless regulation game there was plenty of action in what turned out to be a goalies dual between the Blackhawks Corey Crawford and Rangers Cam Talbot.

The goaltending was outstanding particularly by Crawford who had to face 16 shots on goal in the first period. The Hawks were heavily outplayed in the first period. Lately I would say Crawford is owed some dinners by his team mates because he got them this point and has been keeping them in these games.

What let the Blackhawks down was once again was their power play that went zilch for four. Their inab...

The Blackhawks have improved to 3-1-0 without Patrick Kane (broken clavicle) in their lineup. But they sure aren't making it easy on themselves along the way.

While they won 2-1 in the shootout tonight, they were lucky to get to overtime. They allowed the Oilers 47 SOG (+20 attempts blocked/9 missed shots) - 18 in the first period alone - while only managing 39 SOG (+22/17) of their own. Corey Crawford has gone 3-0-0 in his last three starts, including a shut out, with a .968 sv%: Chicago's challenges aren't on his shoulders. Ben Scrivens took the loss for the Oilers despite an excellent performance.

This game definitely falls within the category of trap game facing the worse team in the entire NHL the Hawks will be putting to the test the new found energy and jump provided by the trade deadline acquisitions.

To add insult literally to injury the Oilers are banged up and missing many of their key pieces both in goal and their big scoring threat Taylor Hall which makes them appear easy prey. The Hawks will need to guard against complacency in this game for sure and continue to try to gather as many points as possible.

It also does not help the Hawks that they have had an unusually long break from action this week and may need to shake off some rust themselves.